


Waiting to Burn

by onlyhereforellick



Series: Angstober '20 [6]
Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, fictober 20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26869921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyhereforellick/pseuds/onlyhereforellick
Summary: They’d come in, mind set, plan prepared, eyes steeled for the fight.
Relationships: Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres
Series: Angstober '20 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952188
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Waiting to Burn

**Author's Note:**

> Fictober ‘20 - “That was impressive.”
> 
> And yes I did change it to Angstober, im glad you noticed. Buckle in folks we still have 25 prompts to go 👀

With an audible sigh filled with the weight of too many years and too many headaches and too many taxing conversations, his body sunk into the familiar old couch.

Staring at the crackling fire, he downed a swig of ice cold, refreshing beer and one particular thought managed to surface from the whirlpool he dealt with on a regular basis.

Whispering it aloud to the darkness of the room, “That was impressive,” Gibbs felt the glow from the flames match the agent that just left his house.

He’d never seen that side of them before- never seen that determination in their eyes. They’d come in, mind set, plan prepared, eyes steeled for the fight.

But Gibbs didn’t give her one. He knew nothing would come of it. His tired eyes had seen Bishop through so many hardships, so many tough hands life threw at her. So when she said she needed to take emergency time off for a bit, offering to do desk work at home- he let her.

_Not even knocking, the door burst open- not haphazardly but with purpose. Like the intruder meant business._

_Gibbs peaked his head out from the depths of his fridge and shouted out in welcome._

_No answer._

_Straightening he closed the fridge door and meandered into the living room, intrigued by his late night visitor._

_The wild look to her blonde hair thrown carelessly around reminded him of when_ _Shannon would run her hands through her hair over and over when stressed about a hard decision. Yet her eyes told a different story—the fading red rim relayed hints of crying, but the dead set unwavering stare left no room for misinterpretation._

_Bishop was leaving._

_He’d seen a ghost of this look before but_ _never this strong, it was different this time, he realized._

_His quiet assessment didn’t even rattle her like it worked in interrogation. It used to, but- looks like his probie had grown up._

_Her voice steady, “I’m sure you know why I’m here.”_

_Gibbs just nodded in response._

_Bishop didn’t budge from her spot five steps from the threshold. “It shouldn’t take me longer than a few weeks. I can do desk work in the meantime.”_

_He knew it was coming the moment she walked in the door, but the way Bishop delivered it was leaps and bounds from before. There was confidence, certainty- it was...impressive. The once young_ _blossoming agent had finally stepped into her own._

_Gibbs had understood she wasn’t looking for permission, just informing him. It’s the reason he didn’t offer any, he had once again firmly nodded. Hoping his support was evident despite the lack of words._

Taking another sip he turned his attention back to the licking flames, leaving embers in their wake. A small smile overtook his expression—Bishop had always been a fire waiting to burn, and when she finally did- man, it was a sight to behold. Because even when the angry blaze died down, the low-burning coal simmered- waiting for its time to reignite, never _quite_ forgetting what sparked it in the first place despite all appearances.

The smile morphed into a full blown chuckle as Gibbs threw his head back onto the couch, proclaiming aloud to the nothingness of the night, “Torres ain’t gonna know what hit him.”


End file.
